I arrived at KLIA's satellite terminal building one evening recently by a Singapore Airlines flight from Changi, Singapore. My one checked-in baggage was, in fact, a very handsome-looking fabric finished designer label bag that I could have been taken aboard as carry-on luggage except that it weighed slightly over 12 kg.

Its main zipped opening had a lock for security but it also had a side pocket, also with a zip, but covered by a discreet fabric flap. I had slipped some documents such as my address book and a note pad together with a cheque book holder in which I had a small amount of foreign currency into this compartment.

Of course, it was my oversight to have done this and, in any case, my friends in Singapore (both Malaysians and locals) had confidently remarked that the side pocket would not be tampered with as it did not even look bulging with its contents.

My baggage had been checked in by 3.45 pm at Changi but it was among the very last pieces to emerge out of the baggage carousel point at KLIA. The first thing I checked was the unzipped side pocket of my bag and, lo and behold! my cheque book holder and its contents were missing.

On enquiries to the ground staff at KLIA, I was asked to lodge a police report. I write this simply to point out that the countless cases of my family members and friends (both local and from overseas), who have experienced similar pilferage, and outright thievery at KLIA over the past few years, are not a figment of their imagination.

There appears to be an organised racket of baggage ‘robbers’ at KLIA which, so far, the authorities concerned have been unable to bring to an end. It’s time we got down to the brass tacks instead of touting meaningless and ridiculous claims to First World standards.